Showing posts with label Godzilla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Godzilla. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 01, 2019

The Plaid Stallions Halloween Shopping Guide




It's October, my favourite time of the year and it's not just because my best colour is brown. Nope, I love Halloween more than any other holiday and i don't even like Candy all that much.


I am however, a complete rube for the monster and horror-themed merchandise, so here are some of the things that put a twinkle in my eye and total stress on my bank account:



Something Weird Spook Show Spectacular A Go-Go: I love Something Weird Video, Vinyl Records and Spook Shows. This was made for me, I just hope it gets here in time for Halloween.


Frankenstein Tiki Mug I have a real fondness for Tiki bars although it's hindered by non-fondness for anything sweet that involves liquor. There is a whole series of Universal Monsters Tikis out there right now that are tasking me. It's just weird to drink beer out of these things...





GODZILLA: THE SHOWA-ERA FILMS, 1954–1975 The Criterion Collection: This is pretty much my childhood in one little package, a deluxe set of cleaned up Godzilla movies from the "Showa Era" (AKA the UHF years) with tons of extras and little perks. Even though this is a little pricy, it's also like the last Godzilla set I'll ever buy. 




Universal Monsters Paper People by Super 7- Seriously Super 7 is killing it this year with the Universal Monsters but of all the great stuff on their site (and you should check it out) I'm most in love with this tribute to the 1970s Our Ways Studios Jointed Giants.







Zombie Action Figure Fulci's Zombie is one of my favourite horror movies and this licensed figure coming out from Pallbearer Press and Distinctive Dummies is just all kinds of awesome. i was lucky enough to score their Coffin Joe figure before it sold out and let me tell you, it's glorious. Do not sit on the fence on this one because it will sell out and quick.



Mego Horror Wave 7 Figures: As most readers of PS would know, I'm a ginormous Mego nerd and they've really been knocking it out of the park with Horror stuff lately. I'm especially fond of Wave 7's Mummy and Phantom of the Opera which were created by some great people I know. There really is no bad figure in this series to be honest.


Battling Franken Mutants- Inspired by Toho's "War of the Gargantuas" these wonderful inaction figures by Stexe (who also makes this wonderful piece) actually do battle thanks to magnets.



Super 7 Creature Beach Towel- Yeah I want this too, although I'd also like a whole series of the monster surfing. I remember that "Frankenstein goes surfing" was a throwaway gag movie name on "Gilligan's Island"  and I was six and thought it was a real movie. 





Universal Monsters Bend Ems- Apparantly these throw back to the early 1990s Bend Ems are popping up at Walgreens, I don't live anywhere near of one those, so this photo and article links to Dinosaur Dracula's blog, they know more than i do on the subject.


I'd really like to know what other cool stuff you've found this year, leave me a comment here or on our facebook group Pod Stallions so i can hopefully do a part two this month.




Monday, June 17, 2019

Toy-Ventures: My Mego Meet Haul



I've just returned from my favourite toy convention of all time, Mego Meet and please excuse the sleepy voice but I haven't had much sleep!

Thought it would be fun to go over the various items I picked up at this weekend's festivities, stuff from Planet of the apes, the Monster Squad, Stretch Armstrong, Godzilla, Kolchak the Night Stalker and hey I even bought a Mego figure from Buck Rogers.

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Monday, March 11, 2019

Toy-Ventures 12: Godzilla Battles the Tricephalon Monster





Toy-Ventures talks about the amazing playset produced by HG Toys called "Godzilla battles the Tricephalon Monster" and gives you a look at why this underrated toy is an eight-year-olds dream. 

If you love some Kaiju, you're going to want to watch this. Visit us online at www.plaidstallions.com Twitter: @plaidstallions 

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Friday, May 11, 2018

BIG Toys Week: Rodan by Mattel



I cap off this theme week with one of my absolute favorite BIG toys of all time, Rodan! Toho movies were a treat for me growing up, rarely playing on TV, I can vividly remember watching each one I did catch.

The weekly Godzilla cartoon and monthly Marvel comic were also enabling my love for Japanese Kaiju cinema. My single attempt to get a Mattel Godzilla toy was begging my parents to buy me one at Woolco.

It didn't go over great.



Rodan was not released in Canada, so I was blissfully unaware of it. When I began toy collecting in high school, Godzilla and the Shogun Warriors were on my short list, basically I was fixing Santa's mistakes.

 I started by visiting kids I grew up with and asking if they still had their toys, I got a lot of weird looks, I also got a lot of cool old toys. I eventually graduated to late night calls to the shadow network of dealers and collectors in the United States.




Everybody knew somebody and you'd get off the phone with one guy and have a new contact to call. One of them mentioned he had a Mattel Rodan, I probably swallowed my gum, I'd never heard of this toy, I NEEDED it.

So after some negotiation, at 17 years old, I had a Mattel Rodan hanging over my dresser mirror complete with a cigarette in his mouth and a pair of tiny sunglasses. I wish I had a picture of this.

He would be the first thing I saw every morning until college when I sold him for car money. It kind of stung to see him leave at that toy show...



Flash forward to 2007 when I encountered a great deal on a boxed Rodan, I snapped it up and put it on display. It was pretty magnificent, I'd hate to think what it would sell for now.

 But for some reason, it brought me little to no joy. I eventually sold it to a friend for a friend price, he still mentions it.

Later on, it dawned on me that sometimes "Mint in Box" isn't as fun as loose. The Rodan I had as a teen didn't have a box, heck he was missing his feet! So if I wanted a Rodan, it would have to be loose.




And here he is, my 3rd Rodan toy hanging with some of my childhood toys,  hung over my workspace, he's often one of the first things I see every day (after my dog). He never fails to bring me joy.


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Friday, November 10, 2017

Japanese versions of US toys


I thought it may be fun to look at a few (but not all) examples of how some American favourites looked like over in Japan, the land of amazing toys and cartoons.

We'll start with the Mickey Mouse Snowcone machine, a take on the Snoopy Sno-Cone machine. This one confuses me because SNOOPY IS REALLY POPULAR IN JAPAN! Not sure why they switched to Mickey here.

Much more after the jump!

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

Destroy all Rack Toy Monsters!


It wasn't easy to find decent Godzilla Rack Toys here in North America when I was a lad. I recently discovered this fun piece by Yamakatsu in Japan that many of us would have adored as kids, it's Destroy all Monsters on a card!

My best guess is these rubber dudes came out in the mid 1980s, anybody want to confirm?

Friday, March 11, 2016

Godzilla: King of the Monsters by GLJ



Just unearthed this sell sheet for GLJ toy's Godzilla bendy from the 1970s, there is nothing I don't like about this toy but the biggest thing is the amazing effort they put into this card art.



The connection to the Marvel Comic with the logo, really doesn't hurt does it?

Friday, November 20, 2015

Pod Stallions 37 : Godilla



Episode 37 is our first "lost episode" as we had to re-record half of it after a computer glitch (sorry), so we know it's not October. This one has J & B discussing all things Godzilla and his Toho pals, something we're both fans of.
Subjects include our highlights (and lowlights) of his film series, the Hanna Barbera cartoon series, the Marvel comic and of course the many, many awesome toys that take money from (mostly Brian's) our wallets. Sidetrack conversations include Majin monster of Terror, Rack Toys, Johnny Yuma, Ultraman, Rodan,  Psychotronic magazine and the Big Bopper.....
We also want to keep the conversation going on the Pod Stallions Facebook page, please drop a line as to your favourite Godzilla movie and toys. We anxiously await your thoughts.

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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Godzilla is no Pussycat



This ad is taken from a Hong Kong trade magazine, showcasing the Imperial Toys Godzilla merchandising blitz. I love stuff like this but I'm kinda mad I never saw that Mecha Godzilla at retail, that would have been soooooo mine.

New Pod Stallions this Friday, all about Godzilla! 

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Spotlight: Toynami Shogun Warriors Godzilla

toynami godzilla

What better time to do a photo review of a shiny new Godzilla toy than the month of October?

This isn't any Godzilla but Toynami's retake of our childhood classic, the Shogun Warriors Godzilla. I tried to resist  this but seeing as I was denied the original as a kid, it was inevitable. 

So let's take a long loving look at the king of all monster shall we? A very comprehensive after the jump!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Imperial Toys Godzilla Merchandise Blitz Part 1


Imperial made the 1980s more fun by laying out some truly inspired Godzilla merchandise from the insane bubble blowing bong to the more logical PVC Godzilla. 

I still have mine that I purchased 30 (sigh!) years back, it followed through every dorm room/crappy apartment and is still kicking!

Friday, June 12, 2015

Popy Godzilla!


This year I managed to cross a toy off my want list that has been there since I first saw it in 1995. The Popy "Jumbosaurus" is the Japanese equivalent to the Mattel Shogun Warriors Godzilla. Mattel kept a few of the trademark items (like the firing fist and the wheels on the feet) but the differences outweigh the similarities as I'll detail below.


First off, I didn't get this guy in the box, I don't have that kind of money. Here is a shot of the box back in 1978. From a toy store appearance of Ultra-Seven.


As you can see, he's more "Godzilla-y" than our version.


The flicking toungue action that the US version has isn't here, instead he has a talk box in his stomach.


You can see the talk box here, wanna know what he sounds like? Thanks to some help from my daughter, I've created a little video that answers that.




And of course, it's inevitable that I'd see a "side by side" comparison with the two (expect another series of pictures when the Toynami version comes out)

The US G has is slightly taller and more rounded in general.

This looks like the greatest sandbox fight ever.


More Shogun Warriors




Sunday, March 29, 2015

Toy Hunting in Japan


A couple pals of mine went to Japan this week and while I was unable to join them, they did the next best thing and took photos of everything they could while toy hunting. Here are just a few samples...


Japanese live action Spider-Man had a car and a killer robot, which seems to be a pricey item.


There was more Ultraman than you could shake a stick at, which is fine by because I LOVE Ultraman.


Wind up robots are a place I dare not go...

Keyop!

 
This whacky Thor is actually an American Toy


If Jack Kirby was replaced by Robert Crumb.

A whole store dedicated to American pop culture.


This store was all vintage Star Wars, I'd love to see this in person.

Check out (and please like) the PlaidStallions Facebook page for dozens more.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Pod Stallions Episode 23: Monster Movies


As we are both lovers of Monster Cinema or some call it "Creature Features" it makes sense for J and B to count down their top ten favourite Monster movies.

By favourite, we do not mean "best" or greatest, just our personal favourites.

Our top tens vary wildly which makes for an interesting discussion, Jason seems to prefer classic film while Brian seems to enjoy mostly junk food. The list wildly ping pongs between the houses of Hammer, Toho, Hemisphere, Independant International and Señor Spielbergo.


 Along the way we discuss Karloff, Chaney, Yaphet Kotto, Stephen King, Doctor Who, Paul Naschy, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and loads more. 


Happy Halloween from Pod Stallions!




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Thursday, October 09, 2014

Imperial Godzilla


Even though I was a teen when this stuff came out, I won't pretend I didn't go a bit nuts when I saw Godzilla merchandise in my local drug store. I still have my PVC Godzilla on my desk.

But children of the 80s, please tell me, did any of you do the obvious conversion to bubble blowing Godzilla in your college years?



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